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The Limits of Science
Taken from: "The limits of modern science (For now)" - (Perrier & Sternhammer, University of Bonn 2407) In the 20th century the genre of science fiction predicted many technological advances which would benefit humanity. By the 24th century many of these have become a reality. The Cern Drive and cryo-stasis have aloud the exploration of distant star systems. Fusion power has given humanity virtually unlimited energy, whilst organ cloning and genetic engineering have advanced medicine to the point where the average life span for a human is 110 years. Some predictions however remain unrealised. These are known in scientific circles as the Four No’s. Artificial Gravity For centuries the Holy Grail of science has been artificial gravity, a way of creating gravity without the need for centrifugal spin or thrust. The source of this power, the so-called Graviton, remains as elusive today as it was in the 1930’s when it was first described by theoretical physicists. In the 2400’s footage surfaced which appeared to show an Imperial strike craft, J-219, undertaking impossible turns and even hovering without using lift jets, feats which could only be possible if the craft was fitted with some form of anti-gravity source. By 2405 however this footage was revealed to be nothing more than a highly sophisticated forgery created by the Empire for propaganda purposes. Artificial Intelligence In the 20th century Moore’s Law stated that computers would either double in power or half in size roughly every six months. Since 2300 however computer development has gradually slowed as the limits of technology have been reached and today major breakthroughs happen only rarely. One aspect of computing which has yet to develop is true artificial intelligence - a self aware computer system with such skills as cognitive problem solving capabilities or the ability to truly learn and then apply that knowledge. Some systems have come close to meeting the requirements of the so-called Turing Test but these have generally failed to meet the majority of requirements needed to be called sentient. The smartest computers developed to date are considered about as intelligent as a small, primitive animal with some learning capabilities but with limited cognitive awareness. Faster-than-Light Communication As humanity spread to nearby solar systems a means of communication became vital. Unfortunately no means of sending a radio message across interstellar distances has yet to be discovered. If a person on Earth wishes to speak face to face with someone on Gaia, just 4.2ly away, they must board a vessel and cross the distance between the systems, a journey which can take a week to ten days. In the early 22nd century there was some excitement over the use of tachyon-boosted radio signals which could travel at around twenty times the speed of light, sufficient to allow almost realtime communication within a single system, but despite the best efforts of every scientific country no one has yet been able to transmit a boosted signal further than six light hours before the signal transitions back into the radio spectrum and is effectively lost as a method of FTL communication. Boosted signal transmitters are standard fixtures on most large spacecraft but remain too large for fitting to anything smaller than a large shuttle or space plane. Alien Life The fourth Big No is not really a problem for science, merely one of exploration and time. Even before the development of FTL travel humanity has dreamed of encountering another sentient race in the galaxy, and despite centuries of exploration no such encounters have taken place. The only signs of potential alien life have been the now extinct Perdis of Atlas and the mysterious caves found beneath the ice of Archola in the AD Leonis system. These cave seem to show signs of been artificially carved out of the rock centuries, or possibly millenia, ago and many have claimed to have detected signs of writing on some of the walls. Most geologists however believe that the caves are simply a natural formation which is coincidently highly regular in shape and that the "writing" is nothing more than tracks carved by water flows.. Category:Background